NEW YORK - The Labrador retriever is the people's choice among purebred dogs for the 18th straight year. That's the word yesterday from theAmerican Kennel Club, which keeps its nose to the ground on such matters.

AKC says more than twice as many labs were registered in the US in '08 as Yorkshire terriers, the No. 2 dog. The rest in the top 10 were German shepherd, golden retriever, beagle, boxer, dachshund, bulldog, poodle, shih tzu.